Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Question #1: What is the object? (i.e. Balls, Bins, Tubes, Floppies...)
Something that will allow it to be manipulated by robots and people, so.. Since it has never been done before I guess i will go with hula hoops and nerf footballs.

Question #2: What is the goal? (i.e. Large moving tower, puck, goal post...)
Gotta stick with my original guess and go with: A 55 gallon (see thru?) drum or drums (maybe on wheels)

Question #3: What is the special playing field surface trait? (i.e. Ramp, Water, Corn...)
I agree with M. Krass and will say Stairs.

Question #4: What will be the most controversial rule?
Autonomous at the end.. or tipping and pinning rules like every other years
Or, going with the hula hoop and drum guess, "When is a hula hoop totally scored on a drum, when it is completely around it, or partially around it?"

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Do you get extra multipliers if your robot follows the Dewey Decimal system in stacking the books?

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Looking at a few of the answers people have come up with, I think there are some very valid ideas that have been thrown around. I think the most likely answer that we will be seeing this year will be some sort of stairs as a few people have mentioned. Though I think that FIRST may be getting a little tired out with ramps, I dont believe they would want a flat field again this year. Imagine this....each alliance has a moveable goal, and you get a multiplier for each level of steps you ascend with goal in hand. Sounds like it would call for some very exciting moments. Imagine last second dashes for the top step, knocking over your opponent and their goal in the process to win the match in a blaze of glory!

Good Luck,
Andy Grady

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Question #1: What is the object? (i.e. Balls, Bins, Tubes, Floppies...)
Small and large balls with greater human involvement.

Question #2: What is the goal? (i.e. Large moving tower, puck, goal post...)
Large central non-moving goal with height limiting barriers to field sides.

Question #3: What is the special playing field surface trait? (i.e. Ramp, Water, Corn...)
Textured field near the central goal, i.e. criss crossed pipe, 2-4" thick more than 3' wide. or...Robot begins auto mode behind textured field

Question #4: What will be the most contraversial rule?
Human players may not interact with alliance partners or robots during auto period. (later to be reviewed and revised prior to first regional.) And/or multiplier for auto mode.

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Question #1: What is the object? (i.e. Balls, Bins, Tubes, Floppies...)

Inflated 15" mylar party ballons

Question #2: What is the goal? (i.e. Large moving tower, puck, goal post...)

the goal will be your opponents robot - you have to stuff the ballones into your opponents robot to score.

Question #3: What is the special playing field surface trait? (i.e. Ramp, Water, Corn...)

authentic 1950s era monkey bars - the whole field will be a giant set of monkey bars that the bots must climb and transverse

Question #4: What will be the most contraversial rule?

at the beginning of auton mode you robot is laying in pieces on the floor. It has 15 seconds to assemble itself! :eek:

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

dude that was just a guess... i wasnt even serious... i really didnt think about the whole concept that i posted.... you can guess....

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Here are the 4 questions...

Question #1: What is the object? (i.e. Balls, Bins, Tubes, Floppies...)

Main scoring objects red and blue soccer balls. Now for the multiplier. Does anyone here have a dog that has one of those maze balls where you put some dog food it in and the dog bats the ball around to get the food. Black multiplier balls are placed in a giant one of those maze balls so the robots have to be able to turn the big ball.

Question #2: What is the goal? (i.e. Large moving tower, puck, goal post...)

A mesh tube shaped like an upside-down Y, where all three legs have holes. Except the bottom two have a plate that slides back and forth to release all the balls in that leg as well as the top of the Y. I haven't decided how high off the ground all of this is. The Y's are in the middle of each side of the field. They are held up by a pole continuing down from the top of the Y, so the entire goal structure ends up looking kind of like the inside of a peace sign.

Question #3: What is the special playing field surface trait? (i.e. Ramp, Water, Corn...)

There are two horseshoe shaped ramps set up along the side of the field so the two U's face each other. running between the two ramps is a platform. In the middle the platform is 12" high, and between the U's and the middle is 6" high. One 6" platform is blue zone, and one is red. Bonus points for being on the 12" high section at the end

Question #4: What will be the most contraversial rule?

In order to get any points from the red and blue balls, an alliance must get at least one black ball. (doesn't matter how many other balls you got if you multiply them by zero)

<edit> Forgot to add the big maze balls starts on the top platform. The big maze balls is also worth bonus points at the end for whichever alliance gets it on their 6" platform at the end.</edit>

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Of all the guesses I've seen, this may be the winner - tell me that doesn't have Lavery written all over it! Be afraid.....very afraid.

Dave - that's not cool, letting such a crucial part of the game get leaked so early.


My guess for Question #4: What will be the most controversial rule?

in an attempt to really encourage the use of sensors and tracking during autonomous time and less dead reckoning, they need moving targets, so:
having the human players on the field wrapped in reflective tape from the knees up, and pts being based on HP's getting off the field in under 15 seconds without the other alliance robot finding them. A basic robot/Human Player game of tag. It's all about ratings....right? ;)

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

Those poor midwestern HPs.

"He dodges left, he dodges right... he makes a break for the exit gate... ooooooo.... that's rough.... wow, that looks like it hurts... I guess the swerve drive was a little too much for him...well... he'll have that "W-thing" embedded in his forhead for a while..."

Re: The 4 Big Questions!
 

unless they limit the motors that we can use this year, then HumanPlayer Vs Robot would not be an evenly matched contest

a healthy 18 yr old male can put out about 1/3 to 1/2 HP of energy for a short period of time. The motors and power source we had last year could put out 2 HP of energy.

in otherwords, the robot (if well designed) would be 4 to 6 times more powerful than any human player, and if it weighs less than 130 lbs, would easily be faster and more responsive.

"John Henry said to the captain
by God I aint no fool
before I'll die with a hammer in my hand
im gonna get me a steam drill too Lord Lord!
get me a steam drill too!"